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The prince essay machiavelli
The prince niccolo machiavelli analysis
Todays politics and the idea of Machiavelli
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Niccolo Machiavelli was born in the 16th century. He is called the father of modern political theory. He was also historiographer, a diplomat and an author. Some of Machiavelli’s conventions were “Discourses on the First Decade of Titus Livius” which was his discussions on what how he viewed issues inside of the Roman Empire and another on of his writings that he was famous for was the Seven Books of the Art of War. (Kreis 2013). In Niccolo Machiavelli’s book “The Prince” Machiavelli teaches how to gain and maintain power, but he also speaks teaches human nature and pursuing unethical opportunities in order to achieve your desired goal. Hence the term “Machiavellian behavior”. (Spark Notes Editors, 2002) Machiavellian Behavior is defined as a person who is willing to manipulate or deceive someone for their own personal benefit. He was intelligent and self-centered. In “The Prince” Machiavelli instructed Lorenzo de Medici through his writings to drive a wedge between his enemies. He told him that it would happen if he would play one side against the other side. And continue to do ...
The most astounding aspect of The Prince is Machiavelli’s view that princes may indeed, be cruel and dishonest if their ultimate aim is for the good of the state. It is not only acceptable but necessary to lie, to use torture, and to walk over other states and cities. Machiavellianism is defined as “A political doctrine of Machiavelli, which denies the relevance of morality in political affairs and holds that craft and deceit are justified in pursuing and maintaining political power (Def.)” This implies that in the conquest for power, the ends justify the means. This is the basis of Machiavellianism. The priority for the power holder is to keep the security of the state regardless of the morality of the means. He accepts that these things are in and of themselves morally wrong, but he points out that the consequences of failure, the ruin of states and the destruction of cities, can be far worse. Machiavelli strongly emphasizes that princes should not hesitate to use immoral methods to achieve power, if power is necessary for security and survival.
Machiavelli believes that a government should be very structured, controlled, and powerful. He makes it known that the only priorities of a prince are war, the institutions, and discipline. His writings describes how it is more important for a prince to be practical than moral. This is shown where he writes, "in order to maintain the state he is often obliged to act against his promise, against charity, against humanity, and against religion" (47). In addition, Machiavelli argues that a prince may have to be cunning and deceitful in order to maintain political power. He takes the stance that it is better for the prince to be feared than loved. His view of how a government should run and his unethical conduct are both early signs of dictatorship.
In 1513, an Italian politician by the name of Niccolo Machiavelli distributed, though privately, a political treatise called The Prince. This treatise was, essentially, a guide on how to effectively rule one's country. It's important beforehand to define exactly what a Machiavellian is, before describing one. A Machiavellian is a leader who, through his power and influence, works toward the common good of his people. This can be done through fear, through deceit, even through manipulation. It is important to understand the main principle of a Machiavellian; the end justifies the means. The end being the common good of his people. Vladimir Putin is a Machiavellian in the ways he retains power, institutes reform, and executes economic recovery domestically; and also in the ways he manages international affairs, such as the issues with Syria, Snowden, and the 2014 Winter Olympics.
In The Prince, Machiavelli separates ethics from politics. His approach to politics, as outlined in The Prince, is strictly practical. Machiavelli is less concerned with what is right and just, and instead with what will lead to the fortification of the government and the sustainment of power. Machiavelli believed that a ruler should use any means necessary to obtain and sustain power. He says, “…people judge by outcome. So if a ruler wins wars and holds onto power, the means he has employed will always be judged honorable, and everyone will praise them” (Machiavelli, 55). According to Machiavelli, the ends of an action justify the means (Machiavelli, 55). His motivation for these views in The Prince was the reunification of the Italian city-states (Machiavelli, 78-79). Machiavelli wanted Italy to return to its glory of the Roman Empire (Machiavelli 78-79). Some of the beliefs of Machiavelli could be perceived as evil and cruel, but he found them necessary. Machiavelli was not concerned with making people happy. His purpose was outcome and success, and in his opinion, the only way to be successful was to be realistic. These views of Machiavelli could classify him as one of the earliest modern
Machiavelli's philosophy described in his writings The Prince had a pragmatic approach to politics. Machiavelli, born in 1469 during the Italian Renaissance, was a political philosopher, along with military experience as a defense secretary of the Florentine republic. He believed that a strong leader would provide security. In medieval times kings were appointed by God ruled men. The provided law and were scared individuals.
Machiavelli’s theory of being a successful prince, is to be a ruthless prince. Machiavelli’s focus is principalities, territories that are either inherited or new. The prince traditionally rules hereditary principalities, unless he acts in a way that causes him to be hated and overruled. He believes that ruling a principality is simple if you are qualified and likable. In the occurrence of new principalities, the people think they will benefit from a new ruler, but things will get worse and then enemies must be faced.
Given a position of power, Machiavelli discusses his view on the proper approach to power in his book, The Prince. He wrote the book to give advice to Lorenzo d’ Medici of Florence, so that he could unite and take power in a disjointed Italy at the time. Morality is a topic Machiavelli completely ignores in his advice. His quote on “the end justifies the means” becomes a main viewpoint regarding his advice to Medici. Gaining and maintaining power is viewed as the priority.
In Machiavelli’s literary work The Prince, Machiavelli addresses the behavior of men, in terms of how they interact with not only others, but as well as how they conduct themselves by their own set of morals. The Prince also addresses the factors that determine a strong prince. He states very clearly that certain aspects of how a prince conducts himself will show him in a certain light. This displays that a prince can be lead being hated, loved, or feared. Overall, he argues that a prince must attain balance between being loved and feared, and to take care to ensure that fear does not blossom into hatred.
(652) and those who do realize what the Prince is, dare not tell, for the Prince has the power of the masses to protect him. Machiavelli, in a sense, describes how to live, successfully and prosperously, by dealing with the human?s nature. He details how one is to manipulate
Although Machiavelli gives numerous points on what it takes to excel as a prince, he also shows some raw examples of how he feels a prince should act in order to achieve maximum supremacy. First, when he says, "ought to hold of little account a reputation for being mean, for it is one of those vices which will enable him to govern" proves Machiavelli feels mighty adamant about his view that being mean will help a prince achieve success (332). It is absurd to imagine the meanest prince as the most successful. Also, when Machiavelli states, "our experience has been that those princes who have done great things have held good faith of little account, and have known how to circumvent the intellect of men by craft" revealing his attitude to manipulate people into fearing and respecting the prince (335). Also, Machiavelli shows that for a prince to be successful, he must not think about good faith.
Through Machiavelli’s views of how selfish people were and how a Prince should rule over a state duplicity, Machiavelli proved to be machiavellian.
The Philosophies of Machiavelli Though being labeled as a “Machiavellian” was associated with craftiness and deception, it is not necessarily a negative label. Machiavellian is the description of a person who is goal driven and lives with a strong focus, without much emotional involvement. During the year 1505 Machiavelli’s book The Prince stunned the early European world with a straightforward guide to leading as a ruler or prince. Instead of being used as guidelines for ruling, the word “Machiavellian” became associated with political procedures that had unsettling inclinations.
Machiavelli focused on the social as whole and played less interest in ethical and moral issues. Context of management Machiavelli defined the quality of a leader should be wise, courageous, strong, respected and feared. ‘The leader should have the qualities of the lion and the fox.’ On the other hand, Machiavellianism relates to manipulation and exploitation which emphases a leader should destroy who can injure, use cruelty sparingly but important to avoid being hated. A Machiavellianism leader displays manipulative behaviour for own priority and interests by justifying the benefit for the end result.
The Machiavellian thought is a tyrannical doctrine of leadership of the sixteenth century. It is however a misplaced school of thought as it contradicts the initial thoughts of Machiavelli. There is need to evaluate the works of Machiavelli in order to determine whether he complied with the callous Machiavellian image depicted in the prince. Since he had been brought up in the realms of power in Florence, Machiavelli was bound to give his thoughts and opinion concerning political power. His most famous work, The Prince is however, a contradiction to the life that Niccolo Machiavelli led.
Through his many years of experience with Italian politics Machiavelli wrote “The Prince”; a how-to guide for new rulers. We are given descriptions of what a leader should do to effectively lead his country. A leader should be the only authority determining every aspect of the state and put in effect a policy to serve his best interests. These interests are gaining, maintaining, and expanding his political power. Machiavelli’s idea is that a ruler should use a variety of strategies (virtues) to secure his power. Machiavelli lists five virtues that a ruler should appear to have; being compassionate, trustworthy, generous, honest and religious. A ruler should possess all the qualities considered good by other people.